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Aviation History
1972
1972 - 1329.PDF
FLIGHT International, 25 May 1972 755 EQUIPMENT CRITICISED A STATEMENT from Alitalia last week said that operations at 16 Italian airports blacklisted by the national pilot's association were not dangerous provided that company procedures were followed. The airports were blacklisted by the pilots six days after an Alitalia D&8 crashed near Palermo on May 5 with the loss of 115 lives; their action has attracted plenty of publicity in the meantime. Alitalia said that it agreed with the pilots that many of the airports needed improved air traffic control equipment and radar, although it added that it had been pressing the authorities for such improvements for some time. Most of the 16 airports are in the south of the country. 'QUIET' ENGINE RESULTS LATEST static tests by Nasa's Lewis research centre on the experimental "quiet" engine have shown that, if four such engines (with noise-absorbent nacelles) were fitted to a 707/DC-8 class of aircraft, "noise on take-off and approach would be only about 90 EPNdB." This compares with actual figures (obtained on the same basis) of 116 on take-off and 118 on the approach for such aircraft. These results were presented to an aircraft noise reduction con ference last week at the Cleveland-based research centre by Carl C. Ciepluch, deputy manager of the Quiet Engine Project Office. The data were extrapolated from tests earlier this month, which involved running the 22,0001b, 98kN-thrust turbofan inside its Boeing-built acoustic nacelle for the first time and measuring its noise with microphones placed in a semi-circle 150ft away. Lewis claims that the engine in its nacelle is from eight to 13 EPNdB quieter than the JT9D and CF6 and is nearly 15 EPNdB quieter than FAR Part 36 standards would require for a new aircraft in the 707 weight category. The aluminium/glass-fibre nacelle fitted to the first unit (engine A) absorbs primarily in the 2,000Hz to 4,000Hz range, which is the most annoying band. Testing will continue until this autumn, when the powerplant will be transferred to a new altitude chamber for its performance Pan American is using a head-up aid designed to assist pilots to judge visual approaches when flying 747s. The pilot's eye level is approximately 50ft above the wheels at touch down on the 747, and this has given rise to difficulty in relating the aircraft to the approach path indicated by runway Vasi. The new aid—the Visual Approach Monitor—is manu factured by Sundstrand Data Control and its installation in the 747 has been given FAA certification to be checked under simulated flight conditions. A second "quiet" powerplant, known as engine C, is undergoing aerodynamic tests by General Electric at its Peebles, Ohio, site and will be delivered to Lewis at the end of the year for acoustic testing. Both engines A and C are based on the TF39/CF6 core engine. Comparative analysis of results from the two units will be used in the design of a new Mk2 engine, using a lighter core, which will be aimed at obtaining the best compromise between noise reduction and installed weight. WRONG DECISION THE conclusion of the National Transportation Safety Board's investigation into the loss of a United Air Lines Boeing 737 at Philadelphia on July 19, 1971, is that the captain wrongly abandoned the take-off when No 1 engine failed. There were eighteen injuries among the 55 passengers and six crew on board the aircraft. The take-off was normal up to the point at which undercarriage retraction is usually initiated. At that point the crew heard a loud explosion and subsequently reported that the aircraft yawed to the right. The captain took over control from the first officer, thought he detected no response when he applied full power to both engines and therefore elected to land. The explosion occurred when the aircraft was at 50ft and flying at a speed above V2. In its analysis, the NTSB confirms that the No 1 engine failed (due to a turbine blade separating) and the No 2 engine operated normally until impact. Of the pilot's action the report says: "It is difficult to understand, without a check of the engine and flight instruments, how the captain determined that both engines had failed and why a decision to land was made immediately." The board also refers to the difficulties that can be encountered when control of the aircraft is taken over by one pilot from another during an emergency, and notes that it has to be assumed that the yaw to the right resulted from control pressures by a pilot. "It can be assumed that the first pilot may have applied rapid excessive right rudder control in a reflexive response to a left yaw. . . . The captain, not realising this rudder input, took over control of the aircraft which was yawing to the right. . . . One set of engine instruments was spooling down and he interpreted this set as representing the right engine." BERLIN CHANGE THE BEA-Air France co-operative agreement on the Berlin-Munich and Berlin-Frankfurt routes will come to an end on October 31 when Air France- withdraws. As a result BEA is now free to carry its Union Jack symbol on the fins of its One-Eleven fleet, which have hitherto been painted plain blue in view of the joint services with Air France. The repainting of the fleet has already begun. Air France withdrew its own aircraft from West German domestic services some years ago, and has been operating from West Berlin to Munich and Frankfurt jointly with BEA. When the arrangements end the French carrier will still keep West Berlin-Paris services running, and will operate them through Cologne in order to preserve its German domestic traffic rights. STILL GROWING EUROPEAN traffic continued to show healthy gains in March, according to figures released by the European Air lines Research Bureau. Intra-European scheduled passenger traffic carried by the EARB members (most of the flag carriers) was 25 per cent up on that of March 1971, and in the 12 months to March 31 it was 16 per cent up. The respective figures for intercontinental traffic were 23 per cent for March arid 8 per cent for the 12-month period. Freight traffic (tonne-km) on European routes was 20 per cent up in March and 6 per cent up in 12 months; on intercontinental routes it was 22 per cent up in March and 19 per cent up in 12 months.
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